Frugal Recipe Tips

I must admit that I hardly ever follow a recipe exactly. I usually play around with recipes and conform it to my family's preferences.

I also substitute cheaper items to make a recipe cost less.

Now, if you follow a recipe exactly to the letter, then that's fine. I think people who do that have less of a chance of making an awful meal.

I have made two bad dinners in my lifetime, which were lentils and cow dung. If you care to read about those two dinners, click here.

But back to some of the substitutes I use in my cooking....

For example, I substitute dry milk in recipes that call for fresh milk. (I probably should say I used to substitute with dry milk. Presently, the cost of dry milk is more or almost the same as fresh milk. So, I'll only go back to that once the price drops again.)

I also substitute for most canned soup. My family doesn't eat much canned soup, so I usually don't have it in my pantry. When a recipe calls for a cream based soup, I use the following substitution:

Cream Soup Substitute (celery)
Melt 2 tablespoons of margarine in a sauce pan. Saute 2 tablespoons chopped celery. Blend in 2 tablespoons flour, add 1/3 cup dry milk powder and 2/3 cup vegetable broth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook until smooth. (If you would rather use fresh milk, just add 1/3 cup fresh milk and decrease to 1/3 cup vegetable broth.)

If I want to make the above recipe Cream of Chicken Soup, I pass on the sauteing the celery and blend the flour, dry milk and chicken bullion broth.

I also substitute cheaper cheese for what a recipe may call for. If colby cheese is on sale, I'll buy that and substitute it for mozzarella. I know it will change the taste, but I'm okay with that as long as it's something my family will like.

When a recipe calls for wine, I might substitute chicken or beef broth.

I make my own bread crumbs from all the old crusts of loaves that no one ate. I just freeze them, then take them out and whirl them around in my blender on the 'crumb' setting. If the recipe calls for Italian seasoned bread crumbs, I just throw in some Italian seasonings.

If I'm making a recipe for my son and I, I might substitute canned tuna for imitation crab meat. Notice I said if I was making it for my son and I. My husband doesn't like tuna. Nope, his family of 10 children ate a lot of Tuna Noodle Casserole while he was growing up and he won't touch tuna for anything.

Did you know the little packets of seasoning in the supermarket labeled 'taco seasoning', are actually only chili powder, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne powder and cumin? I have all those ingredients in my cupboard and can throw that together in a flash.

The seasoned boxed rice you buy in the store can be made right in your own kitchen with ingredients that you probably have on hand. You can even make your own variations of seasoned rice. Just add the spices and ingredients that your family likes.

Same idea can be applied to those oatmeal packets with flavors such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and apples. Just make your oatmeal and add the spices and ingredients that you like. Real apples in oatmeal tastes better to me than the dried flavoring they add to the packets.

These are just a few of the tips I use in making my own substitutions that not only cost less, but are most of the time, much better for you.